TADA court reserves decision on Dutt's plea

 MUMBAI: The designated TADA court on Monday reserved its decision on the application moved by filmstar Sanjay Dutt, seeking relief under the Probation of Offenders Act (POA), till further orders and said it may decide on the matter along with the quantum of sentence of the convicts in the 1993 serial blasts case.

Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told reporters that Judge PD Kode may decide on the quantum of sentence any day after March 13 as on March 12, the court will decide on an application filed by an intervenor seeking dismissal of Dutt's application.

Dutt's Defence Counsel Satish Maneshinde produced a copy of the guidelines, formulated by the Maharashtra government to decide on matters related to POA, and said Dutt's was a perfect case in this regard.

However, Nikam once again opposed the plea, saying it would send a wrong signal to society and that the report of the probation officer should be called only after the court formulates an opinion regarding Dutt's application, he said, adding that it should not be called until the court formed an opinion.

In a related development, former journalist Deepak Nacchani, who is now with the Bombay Citizen Welfare Organisation, was detained for protesting outside the Arthur Road Jail and demanding a strict sentence for Dutt.